Its great being being young, footloose and fancy-free enough to head out on an excellent adventure such as the one Ryan is about to embark upon. Record it well for future memories.

Our local Washington South Sound newspaper reported the following fishing report (paraphrased) yesterday, 7/4/01. I thought it might be the needed catalyst to get Juro to write that article on "Saltchuck Salmon On A Fly."

- Charter Captain out of Ilwaco says salmon fishing has been "fantastic" since the 7/1 opener...Chinook to 37lbs, but typically 12-15lbs. Coho mostly 5-6lbs. Good fishing at Buoy 1...boats return early with limits.

- Neah Bay resort operator reported 8,670lbs of halibut, 137 chinook and 830 coho caught Sunday, 7/1...similar numbers for Monday, 7/2. Lots of kings 18-20lbs with a few 25-30lbs. Coho averaging 6lbs with several up to 8lbs. He says he says he thinks the 1,700 king quota will be met very quickly resulting in a short season..."people who know how to catch them are catching them left and right...."

- Resort operator at Seiku says fishing started out slow but got better by Tuesday, 7/3. Coho 4-10lbs, chinook to 35lbs. Lots of limits and pink salmon starting to show as well.

- A popular sports center in Lynwood reported the North Sound to be slow although several chinook to 29lbs have been taken.

- A boathouse operator in Tacoma says fishing at Pt. Defiance has slowed since the heavy minus tides. Chinook 8-22lbs are being taken but you've got to work for them.

- Marina operator around Johnson's Point in the South Sound reports a few chinook coming in from around Anderson and Ketron Islands in the 6-12lbs range.

I live in the Gig Harbor area...yesterday looked like an extension of the Point Defiance Zoo at the Clay Banks....seems as though most folks believe that's the only place in the Sound to catch fish. Easily 100 boats out there when I came back in at 10:00 a.m. I chose, instead, to launch at "0-dark-thirty" and FF my way along the shores of Colvoss Passage around Point Dalco and then over to Point Evans...C&R'd 3 decent resident coho along the way and LDR'd a blackmouth that hit at Point Dalco in about 60 feet of water (LC-13 and a white/peacock Clouser - #2 hook) - unpinned 3 minutes into the battle. I had a good time fishing it my way without crowds! Eagerly looking forward to those big ocean fish working their way down here. By then, I actually might know what I'm doing.